Thunderstruck, Callie stared at her friend, saw the tears shimmering in Fiona’s eyes and pushed back the thick swell of emotion contracting her own throat. She had no idea her bubbly, eternally happy friend was holding on to such a secret. “I’m so sorry, Fee.”
Fiona managed a brittle smile. “I guess what I’m saying is that we all have things in our past that can stop us from looking for happiness or make us blind to it when it comes along. The trick is having the courage to take the chance.”
Three days after the afternoon in the tack room, Callie went for a long ride. She rode into Crystal Point and headed for the beach. It was barely ten o’clock and only a few people were about, a couple chasing sticks with their dogs and a lone jogger pounding the sand. She maneuvered Indiana past the restrooms and onto the soft sand. She spotted a couple of small children building a sand castle and urged Indiana to a halt when she heard her name being called.
It was Evie. And the two small children were Hayley and Matthew.
“Hello,” Evie said as Callie dismounted.
Hayley came running up to her and hugged her so fiercely Callie was amazed by the little girl’s obvious display of affection. Evie stood back and watched the interaction keenly as Hayley showed off her thumbnail painted with transparent glitter polish compliments of her Aunt Mary-Jayne.
Both kids hovered around Indiana, and he stood like an angel while the little girl patted his soft muzzle. Matthew was a little more reluctant, but after a small amount of coaxing from his aunt he stroked Indy’s shoulder.
“He’s such a beautiful animal,” Evie said with a whistle.
Callie smiled proudly. “Yes, he is.” The kids lost interest in the horse and headed back to their sand castle. “They look like they’re having fun.”
Evie smiled. “They love the beach. I try to bring them as much as I can.”
“Do you look after them often?’
“Every Wednesday,” she replied. “My mother has them on Fridays and the rest of the week they’re in daycare.” Evie looked at the twins affectionately. “They’re off to school next year and I’m already missing them just thinking about it.”
Callie stopped herself from watching the twins. “They’re lucky to have you in their life.”
Evie shrugged. “They’re easy to love.”
Yes, Callie knew that. And she could feel herself getting drawn toward them. Evie patted Indiana for a moment and then slanted Callie a look she knew instantly would be followed by a question. “So, are you and Noah seeing each other?”
“Where did that come from?”
Evie smiled. “Jamie said you make a mean salad.”
Callie tipped her Akubra down on her forehead.
“I knew you were going on a date. But I was surprised when the kids told me you’d been to the house,” Evie said when she didn’t reply. “You’re the only woman he’s invited home to be with his kids since his divorce. I figured that meant something.”
Callie remembered Hayley’s innocent remark about grown-up girls and her insides contracted. She’d known it, felt it … but to hear the words, to know he’d never had another woman in the house with his children … it made her heart ache.
“He’s a good guy,” Evie said quietly. “He had a tough time with his ex and deserves to be treated right.”
Callie managed a brittle smile. “Are you warning me off?”
Evie chuckled. “Lord, no. And Noah would strangle me if he knew I was talking with you about this. Sometimes I get into my protective-sister mode and put my foot in it. But I like you, Callie. And I love my brother. So you can tell me to back off and stop meddling if you want—but I probably won’t listen.”
Callie was surprised by the other woman’s frankness. “I hear you.”
“She didn’t want her kids, you know,” Evie said as she looked over toward the twins. “Imagine that. I mean, she had a lot of emotional problems, no doubt about it … but to just walk away from two new babies … it’s unfathomable to me.” She sighed. “And Jamie was barely more than a toddler himself. As for Lily … sometimes she acts so impulsively and I’m concerned she has abandonment issues. And you’d never really know what Noah is thinking. But I guess when your wife packs her bags and tells you she doesn’t want you or your children—it must make it hard to trust someone again.”
Callie’s breath caught in her throat and emotion burned behind her eyes.
Abandoned, motherless children … and a good man trying to hold it all together. She suddenly felt the shame of what she’d said to him right down to the soles of her boots.
She’d said the words to hurt … said them knowing they would hit him hard.
She’d wounded him instead of doing what she should have done … which was to tell him the truth. About why she was so afraid. Fiona was right—she needed to tell him about Ryan.
“I have to go,” she said as she grabbed the reins and sprung into the saddle. “Thanks, Evie,” she said as she turned Indiana back toward the boat ramp and began the quick canter home.
Twenty minutes later she was back at Sandhills Farm. She untacked Indiana, turned him into one of the small paddocks behind the house and then headed inside. One telephone call and a change of clothes later and she was on the road.
She’d called Preston Marine and was told Noah was working from home that day. Within eight minutes she’d pulled her truck into his driveway. Callie turned off the ignition and got out. She heard a loud noise, like a motor running, and followed the sound around the side of the house. She saw him immediately, behind the pool fence holding a chainsaw.
In jeans and a white tank shirt, he looked hot, sweaty and gorgeous. She observed for a moment as he cut branches from an overgrown fig tree and tossed them onto a growing pile. There was something incredibly attractive about watching a man work—a kind of primitive instinct, purely female and wholly erotic. As if aware he was being watched, he stopped the task, lay the chainsaw aside and turned. He walked around the pool and came to a halt about ten feet from her.
“Hello.”
She took a breath. “Hi.”
He looked at his hands. “I need to wash up.”
Callie followed him through one pool gate and then another until they reached the patio. She waited while he slipped through the back door and then returned a few minutes later, cleaned up and in a fresh T-shirt and carrying two cans of soda.
He pulled the ring tab and passed her one. She took it, desperate to touch his fingertips, but she didn’t. “Are you playing truant today?”
“Just working off steam.”
Callie suspected she was the steam he needed to work off.
He put the can down on a nearby table. “Why are you here, Callie?”
She held her breath. “I saw your sister today.”
His brows came up. “Did she embarrass me?”
“No.” Callie stepped back on her heels. “But she said something. She said … she said you’d never invited a woman here … to be with the kids. Before me.”
“She’s right.”
Another breath, longer, to steady nerves stretched like elastic. “Why not?”
He pulled out a chair for her to sit on and then one for himself. Once Callie was seated he did the same. Finally,